Is this true or a joke? Trump wants to bar German cars from U.S? Really? Yikes!

[I couldn’t believe this short excerpt and went to the original German article and this seems to be real. I’m finding this almost unbelievable to think of! Is Donald Trump seriously thinking of banning or reducing the number of German cars in the USA? I thought he was a FREE MARKET kinda guy? I’m finding this hard to believe. If its true, I think its nuts. Jan]

This was the original report I saw:

–U.S. President Donald Trump last month told French President Emmanuel Macron that he plans to bar German premium car manufacturers like Daimler AG (DAI.XE) and BMW AG (BMW.XE) from the U.S. market, reports German business weekly Wirtschaftswoche, citing European and U.S. diplomats.

–During Macron’s visit to Washington in April, Trump said he would maintain his trade policy until no more Mercedes models rolled onto Fifth Avenue in New York, the magazine reports.

–Last week Trump instructed his administration to review whether the country could raise tariffs on car imports using national security as a justification.

Trump wants to block Daimler from the US market

That German cars are a thorn in the side of US President Donald Trump has been known for some time. At the meeting with France’s President Macron it should have come to another verbal tip against Daimler.

US President Donald Trump has announced to French President Emmanuel Macron to exclude German premium car makers from the US market. On Macron’s visit to Washington in April, Trump said he would maintain his trade policy until no Mercedes models rolled on Fifth Avenue in New York. This reports the WirtschaftsWoche, citing several diplomats from Europe and the United States .

Trump had instructed its administration last week to investigate whether car imports endangered US security, as in the case of steel imports. It threatens an import duty of 25 percent on European cars. The federal government is looking within Europe for allies for a defense strategy, but this is difficult.Germany exports by far the largest number of cars from all EU countries to the United States.

Trump’s grudge against the German automaker – and especially against Mercedes models in New York – is not new. In January 2017, prior to his inauguration, he said in an interview, “When you walk down Fifth Avenue, everyone has a Mercedes-Benz in front of their house.” But that’s not reciprocity. “How many Chevrolets do you see in Germany? Not too many, maybe none at all, you do not see anything over there, it’s a one-way street, “said the real estate billionaire. Although he is for free trade, but not at any price: “I love free trade, but it must be a smart trade, so I call him fair.”

Resistance against Trump EU, Canada and Mexico take a stand against US tariffs

The trade dispute between the US and other nations threatens to escalate. After the Trump government has, among other things, beefed up companies from the EU punitive tariff, resistance is forming – not only in Europe.

The fact that American cars in Germany are usually shelf-wardens has, for the US president, a simple reason: A car from American production is duty-paid at the EU with 10 percent, while a car from EU production at the import into the United States US is only occupied at three percent duty. But what Trump forgets: The tariffs apply regardless of the manufacturer. Popular SUV models such as the BMW X5 or Mercedes GLE are built in the US, according to them, the import duty is due – yet these models are not in Germany to the store wardens.

An import duty of 25 percent would also have an economic impact – the Ifo Institute comes in own calculations alone in the German carmakers at the cost of about five billion euros. That would depress German GDP by 0.16 percent. “No country would fear higher absolute losses through such an inch than Germany,” says Gabriel Felbermayr, director of the Ifo Center for Foreign Trade.

The US President does not care. According to data from market researcher Autodata, the German carmakers also produce only 30 percent of their cars sold in the US locally, the rest are imports from all over the world. The companies would therefore punish punitive tariffs so hard. However, since the aforementioned 30 percent will continue to be built in the US – at Daimler in addition to the GLE, the GLS and the C-Class – will continue to Mercedes models on the Fifth Avenue roll.